IGN has a new feature on a DVD coming out that will give fans a glimpse into the world of anime dubbing here in the U.S.

Bang Zoom, like Ocean Entertainment or Coastal Studios, is a middleman of sorts. It doesn’t license or publish anime series on its own, but it’s produced dubs for several different American anime publishers — Samurai Champloo for Geneon, Gurren Lagann for Bandai, Figure 17 for Media Blasters, and many, many more. Now, it’s coming out with a series of DVDs about the voice-acting business, aimed at fans who might be interested in learning how it works or becoming a part of it themselves.

Volume one here is part of a projected three-volume series – the next two are slated to cover video games and original American productions, respectively. This one is about Japanese animation in particular, and to Bang Zoom’s credit, they haven’t put together a fluff piece. There’s some fluff in it, sure, and plenty of goofing off – if you’ve ever met a professional voice actor, you’ll know that they tend to be interesting characters in real life, too. Most of the feature’s 130 minutes, though, are a reasonably serious and involving look at how the art (and the business) of voice acting works.

I know many of you are completely totally anti-dub, but if you’re interested in what really goes on behind the scenes (or are interested in doing voice acting work yourself), it’s a very good read.

Read IGN’s Adventures in Voice Acting feature here

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